


Lay Me To Rest

by TreeofStars



Category: Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Genre: Deathfic, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Heavy Angst, Post Episode: s04e19-e20 Daybreak
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2018-07-01
Packaged: 2019-06-01 00:07:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15130742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TreeofStars/pseuds/TreeofStars
Summary: Post Daybreak. Bill receives a visit from someone with a request.





	Lay Me To Rest

Bill sat on the grassy hill, cradling Laura in his arms. The land was so beautiful, so full of life and hope for humanity, and he wanted to experience it with her just a little longer. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been sitting there with her. Time seemed to lose meaning once he’d set the raptor down. Bill had wrapped her in the blanket and carried her to the spot he now sat. He looked at her face. So peaceful. Even in death, she was the most breathtaking thing he’d ever seen. He kissed her forehead, eyes, nose, and mouth. He missed her, ached to be with her, even as she lay in his arms. Eventually he’d have to bury her, but the thought of that filled him with more despair than he could handle. So he held her closer, hoping for strength to come.

He whispered to her the plans for their cabin, the layout, and the books he would read aloud each day. He knew she’d be listening. “I won’t finish Mystery in the Stars, Laura. You didn’t get to read the ending, so I won’t, either.”

“That’s a shame. I was hoping you’d be able to tell me what happens.”

He looked down at the body in his arms. Laura was still, growing cold. The voice was not in his head, he was certain.

“You aren’t crazy. I’m here.” He felt a warm hand on his shoulder, and turned to see Laura. Healthy Laura. Red hair, smiling down at him. She was wearing her red dress from New Caprica. “Hello Bill.”

He looked from the body in his arms, to the vision beside him. Shaking his head, he said, “I don’t understand.”

“It’s okay.” She sat down next to him, close enough so they were touching.

“Either I’m insane, or this will drive me to insanity.”

She smiled a brilliant smile that made him grateful to be alive to witness it. “I am dead, but I’m not a figment of your imagination. I’m not exactly sure how it works; I’m a little new to this. But I could feel something holding me, anchoring me to the living. And that was you. So here I am.”

He was silent for a bit, letting his fear and doubt wash over him in waves. “Are you like Kara? She was with us, but….”

“Sort of. We could feel her, hear her, see her. And she came back to us because there was something she had to do. But I don’t think I have the time that she did.”

Bill felt a moment of panic. Whatever this was, even if it was his mind snapping, he didn’t want this Laura to leave him. Seeming to sense his feelings, she leaned in and rested her head on his shoulder.

“Don’t worry. I won’t leave until you’re ready.”

He turned his head, burying his face in her hair. Her beautiful red hair he thought he’d never see again. Gods, she even smelled like Laura. “What do you have to do?”

“There is so much peace, Bill. I can’t even describe it. When I thought about what happens to us once we die, and if there is something more, I was always worried that I would miss you. But it’s not like that. I’m happy. My family is there, and Billy…..And I know we’ll be together again one day.”

“You think so?”

She laughed. “Bill, I know so. I know this is hard for you to take in. Part of you still thinks I’m a hallucination.“  She lifted her head to look at him, taking his face in her hands.  “It’s going to be so wonderful, I promise. But not now. You still have life to live.”

He shook his head. “I don’t want to, Laura. I just want to sit here with you.”

“I know. But you have to live for me, Bill. I need you to explore this planet. Look what we went through to get here. Don’t give this up. I want you to see all the life here, so I can see it with you. I never got the chance, but you still have it. I’d give anything to have the opportunity that you do.”

He looked at her. “I’m sorry, Laura. I didn’t think...”

“It’s okay. Don’t be sorry. I just want you to see what’s in front of you. Life. Don’t throw it away.”

He took a shaky breath, looking down at the lifeless body still cradled in his arms. “I miss you so much, everything inside me hurts.”

“Oh, Bill. I know. You’ve got to trust me. Embrace this life. Live it for the both of us. I have seen souls on the other side who gave up, and you can’t do that. There’s a haunting in them. I don’t want that for you, for us. “

He nodded. “I guess this is no crazier than your Pythian prophecies.”

She grinned, nuzzling her head against his arm. “Promise me.”

“I promise, Laura.”

They sat for a long while, staring at the clouds, neither one talking. Laura finally broke the easy silence. “There is something else.”

“What?” His head was resting atop hers, his arms still embracing her body.

“I need you to bury me.”

The panic flooded through him once more, and like before, Laura seemed to sense it. She sat up, placing a hand on his back. The warm sensation of her touch on his back, combined with the cold of her body against his front, was almost too much for him to take. But then she started to make small circles with her hand, the way she did when they slept together, and he felt a calm come over him like he’d never experienced before.

“I won’t be fully at peace until you lay me to rest.”

He looked at her in shock. “Are you…in torment?”

She smiled softly. “No. There’s just a nagging sort of sensation. Almost like that feeling you get when you know you have something you have to do, and can’t relax. “

“Oh, okay.” He looked down at her lifeless body, feeling guilty. “I’m sorry, Laura.”

 “Don’t be. “ She looked toward the horizon. “Sun’s going down.”

“Yeah. I suppose I should get to work.”

She nodded. “I’d like that, Bill.”

“Can you stay with me until I’m done?”

“Yes, I think I can.”

He smiled. “Good.”

Bill rose carefully, laying Laura’s body on the grass while he prepared the spot beside him. “Is this okay?”

“Yes, I like it here.”

She sat close by, watching him gather rocks and dig with miscellaneous tools he’d found in the raptor. Seemingly content with the hole he’d dug, he turned back to Laura. “Um…”

“It’s good, Bill. Remember, I’m not really there anymore.” She gestured to her body.

“Okay. Okay.” He approached the body, kneeling over it, unsure how to proceed.

Laura knelt next to him, reaching inside the blanket and removing her silver bracelet. “This won’t fit you, but you can carry it with you.”

Bill couldn’t stop the tears streaming down his face. “Okay, Laura. I can do that.”

Reaching inside the blanket once more, Laura removed the wedding band he’d placed on her finger. He began to protest, and she shushed him, showing him her hand. “I’m wearing it, Bill. On the other side. And look,” she wiggled her fingers, displaying the familiar band. “It fits.”

“I meant it, Laura. You’re my wife.”

“I know, Bill.” She stroked his cheek, reaching for his hand. “And you are my husband.” She slid the ring on his finger.

He reached for her, crushing her to him. She was warm, responsive. His Laura. “I love you.”

She held him while he sobbed, kissing his cheek, his forehead, whispering words of comfort to him until he calmed.

Bill reluctantly let go of her, wiping his face. “I should finish.”

She kissed his nose. “I’m here.”

He turned back to the body, reaching for the blanket, intending to cover her in it. But as he pulled it toward him, an evening breeze blew toward them.  Pulling the blanket to his face, he breathed in. “I can still smell you.”

“Then you should keep the blanket.”

He looked horrified at her suggestion. “I can’t. I mean you-“

“Bill, feel me.” She put her hands to his chest. “I’m warm. I think you need it more than I do.”

He considered it for a moment, looking at the body, and the waiting grave. “I don’t know.”

“I do. Keep it. Think of it as just one more request from me. “

He nodded. “Okay.”

She pulled away from him, sitting back and watching over him as he lifted her body from the blanket and carried it over to the grave. He settled her on her side, her favorite position to sleep in. He was grateful he hadn’t prolonged this process. If he’d had to touch her while she was completely stiff, he’d have snapped. Then again, maybe he’d already gone round the bend. He looked up at his ‘living’ Laura. She nodded to him, as if in approval of his positioning of her.

The filling in of the grave and positioning of the stones was the hardest part for him. And all the while, Laura sat with him, her red dress moving softly with the breeze.

As he placed the last stone, he turned to her, afraid she’d be gone. But she was right there, beaming. She stood and walked to him. “Thank you, Bill. That was beautiful.” She wrapped her arms around his waist.

“Do you have to go now?” He pulled her tighter to him.

“Yeah, I do.” Laura pulled away from him, just enough to see his face. “You’re going to be okay, Bill. Do you feel that?” she placed a hand over his heart. “A tiny bit of peace. Each day it will grow. And then one day, I’ll come for you.”

“You will?”

“Yes. “

He leaned in to kiss her, finding her lips warm and soft like he’d remembered. She slid her arms around his neck, deepening the contact until she knew her time was almost up. Painfully, she pulled away from him.

“I’ll love you every day, Laura.” He whispered.

She smiled. “I love you.”

Laura was right. There was a peace within him that wasn’t there before. It gave him the strength to release her from his arms and watch her walk away from him. He watched until he could no longer see her, and then grabbed the blanket and headed for the raptor.

Climbing into the pilot seat, he looked out at Laura’s grave. He made a silent promise to himself, and to her, that he would return one day. Until then, he had a life to live for both of them.


End file.
